Rock Hall proves itself slag-worthy again snubbing Johnny Winter, Link Wray, and Rory

charles campbell photo

By Steve Newton

I finally got around to checking out the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame‘s class of 2015 and, lemme tell ya, that institution has developed its most severe case of HUA (Head Up Ass) Syndrome yet.

Okay, firstly, let’s rattle off the nominees: Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, N.W.A., Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Lou Reed, the Smiths, the Spinners, Sting, Chic, Kraftwerk, the Marvelettes, Bill Withers, War, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

Told ya it was embarassing!

From that lame-ass batch, the only ones worthy of nomination in my books are Jett, Reed, Butterfield, and Vaughan.

Fvck Chic.

And Green Day can take a hike, too. You mean to tell me they deserve a spot more than Deep Purple, which the Rock Hall actually nominated last year, before totally forgetting about? “Bollocks”, as our old buddy Bob might say.

Another worthy nominee from last year that didn’t get a shot this time was pioneering guitar hero Link Wray, the original Rumbler. What, was that some kind of cruel joke, to throw his name in the hat for 2014 and then just let the hopes of his long-suffering fans fade to dust?

And speaking of long-suffering, what about all the Rory Gallagher followers, who haven’t even seen their hero’s name mentioned once? Our old buddy Geldof is one of those as well.

The Rock Hall’s third major flub this year was the refusal to consider the late Johnny Winter. They chose Chic over Johnny Winter? Sting over Johnny Winter? The motherfvckin’ Marvelettes over Johnny Winter?

I will give the Rock Hall credit for one decent decision this year, though, and that’s the long-overdue nomination of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Maybe they decided there wasn’t room for two Texas guitar heroes this year, so took him over Winter.

They’d better let Johnny in next year, though, or I’ll really be pissed off.